Shkodran Mustafi has insisted that he wasn’t close to leaving Arsenal during the summer, launching into a tirade at the football journalist who asked.
There was plenty of speculation about the German’s future at the club, with Inter Milan thought to be interested in signing him. Mustafi, though, clearly feels that the reports were nonsense, given his reaction when asked about them.
“You [reporters] like to get the shit, the biggest shit. That’s your job,” he said, as reported by the Guardian. “People outside, talking and thinking that they know everything. What happens in the changing room is the real thing.
“I don’t understand why people just talk about things they cannot know about. If I have been talking to clubs or if I haven’t, it’s only rumours. Obviously there are so many newspapers, they need something to write because it’s boring if the paper is empty.”
The reports in the summer were rather strange, if only because of how unexpected they were. Mustafi’s first season with the club wasn’t stellar, but it wasn’t bad enough to suggest he’d be sold after just one campaign.
For a while, it seemed a deal with Inter Milan could have happened. However, in the end, no deal transpired, and Mustafi returned to the Arsenal line-up like nothing happened. It’s just as well that he stayed because his performance on Saturday was fantastic.
It’s the type of performance that we hope to see him produce on a consistent basis in an Arsenal shirt. He may have just needed a year to settle in to life at Arsenal before finding his best form, much like Laurent Koscielny did when he joined from Lorient.
It was Mustafi’s header that put Arsenal in front against Tottenham. A goal against them is always the best way to endear yourself to the Arsenal support.